Official Review

The Butterfly Effect is a Peter Nardi creation released through his company Alakazam Magic. It has an old world feel and is an excellent routine with a very clever, but simple method. This trick is highly recommended. It is simple to learn and you can be performing immediately after watching the instructional video. It is so easy and self working that it allows you tremendous freedom to focus on your presentation.

The performer takes out his deck of cards and asks the spectator to cut the deck. The performer takes half and the spectator takes the other half. They each mix up the deck and then drop one half on top of the other. Satisfied that the deck is in a totally random order the performer removes the joker from the deck and places it face up on the table. Then, the performer discusses how a butterfly flapping its wings in one place can cause a hurricane across the world and there is also patter about fate and free will. The performer then instructs the spectator to pick any card (Ace through King) to start off the count and then starts to deal the cards face down. For example, the spectator says “Jack”. Either the spectator or the performer then starts dealing 11 cards down (Jack is the 11th card, Queen is the 12th, etc…) and puts the 11th card face up. Let’s say that card is a 4. Then cards are dealt down until the 4th one which is displayed face up again. This is repeated until you get to the final card that you arrive at when you cannot count down anymore. The performer may allow the spectator to exercise free will and change the card at the end of the count once or twice. No doubt, if the number of cards counted is altered, so will the final card arrived at. Then when the final card is displayed after going through the entire shuffled deck it amazingly matches a prediction that was on the table the whole time. The joker is in fact a double facer and when you flip it over, it matches exactly the spectator’s randomly arrived at card. It is truly astonishing.

With the Butterfly Effect you get a 32 minute DVD narrated and taught by Peter Nardi, 2 different gaff cards (the double facer referenced above) and a business card that provides you with a more fooling set-up (set up to be discussed in a bit). You also get a 9 minute additional routine taught by Nardi once you register your product on the Alakazam website. Included on the DVD is a PDF to print cards that say “Fate” or “Free Will” with a card reveal that Nardi uses for parlor performances. The additional routine borrows from the Triple Impact reveal which is one of my favorite tricks. And, if you don’t know Triple Impact, after you reach the reveal card, you have the spectator place the remaining cards in their pockets and the performer amazingly has matching cards from another deck in his own pockets.

The DVD starts with a studio performance of Nardi doing the trick to fellow Alakazamer David Loosley while they both sit on a black leather couch in front of a small table. It is the performance that is featured in the promotional video. What you see if what you get and if you love it on the video, you will love it in real life and there is nothing not to love. Nardi explains that he came up with the method, but believed it had to be invented by another. In fact, he discovered that it was created independently (and decades before) and was published in a magazine in the 1950’s. The trick feels like a classic, something you would have read in an older publication. With the DVD, Nardi teaches several good alternate routine and a way to shorten the routine, which can take a few minutes.

As said above, this is simple to learn and perform. There are no angles to be aware of and the reset is very quick. If you don’t want to use one of the two gaff cards, the arrived at card can be any card and a prediction can be written in advance.

A few issues. First, the promotional video has a quote from Titanas in text that claims that the trick is impromptu. That is not true. There is a set up necessary. If you are handed a borrowed and shuffled deck you cannot perform this trick and it would be difficult to do the set up if spectators are watching you ready for a trick. The set up taught on the DVD would be spotted by most spectators if they were handed the deck to examine, but the alternate set up that comes printed on the business card will not be spotted by your spectators.

The easy set up requires no memory work and the alternate set up require either a cheat sheet or some memory work. Nardi does not teach how to set up the deck on the fly so you will need to figure that out yourself or have the deck pre prepared. Also, because the method and trick is something that feels like an old school trick that you would have learned in an old magazine or in an older book, some may feel that the $25 price tag is a bit much. I disagree. You will get your money’s worth from the reactions and no doubt will perform this over and over again.

Around ten years ago Peter Nardi created an effect that has been shared with very few magicians. It's his go to "magician fooler" and makes a really nice presentation piece to perform for lay people. It uses a regular deck, the process is ultra-fair and the reveal is jaw-dropping!

In 2015 Peter Nardi featured this effect in his lectures and the response was incredible. He has had so many requests to release this to the community and he is happy to say his good friend Titanas finally convinced him to put his work on the Butterfly Effect on DVD.

On this DVD you will learn Peter Nardi's complete handling and presentation for the Butterfly Effect as well as some additional ideas that he has kept secret for a long time.

Not only that but you will also receive two custom printed reveal cards and a printable PDF for Peter Nardi's parlour presentation Fate & Free Will.

The Butterfly Effect is a self-working masterpiece that you will love performing!